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Author's Chapter Notes:
2nd update for today.... I will try to get a third chapter up soon.
Spike hurried home from the rink about 4:45, silently cursing his team. They had been difficult during practice and he had them running drills for 45 minutes longer than usual. He had hoped to get home a little earlier so he could straighten up the house a bit for Buffy. Not that it was that messy. He hadn’t brought much with him when he returned, just a couple bags and boxes of books. Everything else he had was either leftover from Angel, or recent acquisitions. Much of the house was still furnished with Angels furniture. He would be coming back eventually and it hadn’t made sense for him to move it. As soon as he got home he took a quick shower and set about straightening up the few things he found strewn about the house. The sound of the doorbell had his heart racing and him rushing down the stairs. He paused for a moment posed to open the door in order to catch his breath. Opening the door he was hit with a view of Buffy, her golden hair glowing in the sun, her tanned skin contrasted against the white sleeveless shirt and shorts she was wearing. In her hands she held an old fashioned looking picnic basket which he promptly took from her.

“Buffy,” he said when he found his voice. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked in the sun. It stole his breath, and it took him a moment to realize he had yet to invite her in. Stepping aside and opening the door wider he gestured for her to enter.

“Thanks,” she said stepping into the foyer of the house. Looking around she noticed the simple furniture and decorations. A small end table by the window that would be an easy catchall for keys and mail, in fact Spikes keys were already tossed on it. There was a large painting on the far wall, an artist she was unfamiliar with, but it was still an interesting abstract piece.

“So, did you really pack us a picnic, or just using the basket to carry things?” Spike asked pulling her from her observations.

“It’s really a picnic,” Buffy said giving him a nervous smile. She hoped he wouldn’t mind. Maybe he wasn’t a picnic kind of guy. “I thought it would be something different.”

“It’s a great idea, pet.” Spike replied, glad she had decided on something less formal. “Guess we should head on back then.”

Spike led her through the living room and then kitchen to the sliding doors that led to the back yard. Buffy paused at the doorway entranced by the scene before her. The yard was large and immaculately kept. Two large oak trees provided ample shade, and a privacy fence kept people from looking in. There were colorful flowers along the edges of the back a porch and in pots on the stairs.

“Spike, it’s beautiful!” Buffy gasped in surprise. “It’s hard to believe you’re in town.”

“Thanks,” he said shyly ducking his head, and extremely pleased that she liked it. He had always enjoyed working outside, but didn’t often get the chance. “Beneath the tree alright with you?” he asked pointing towards one of the oaks.

Buffy nodded her agreement and followed him over to the old oak. Though still entranced by the yard, Buffy snapped into motion once Spike had set the basket down. Pulling out a red and white checkered cloth she quickly spread it out over the grass. The two sat down on the blanket and Buffy began emptying the basket of its contents. Spike raised an eyebrow at the sandwiches, chips and veggies that she pulled out, but refrained from commenting on the lack of cooking necessary for the meal. He didn’t want to upset her, and she seemed to have put a lot of thought into it. He appreciated that more than if she had cooked a gourmet meal.

“Think you’ve got all the makings of a perfect picnic, pet.” He told her with a smile.

Buffy grinned. “And I even brought desert.”

Spike groaned when she pulled out a plate of brownies. “A woman after my own heart.” He reached into the basket to help unpack the rest and came across a pair of wine glasses. “Wine glasses?”

“A must if we are to have wine,” Buffy replied pulling out a bottle and corkscrew. “I know it doesn’t really go with the food, but I couldn’t resist.”

“I thought alcohol and Buffy were unmixy things.” He said recalling a conversation they had had quite some time ago about her lack of alcohol consumption.

Buffy shrugged. “Little bit won’t bother me.”

“It’s a nice touch, pet.” Spike said taking the bottle and opening it with ease. He poured a little into each glass and passed one to her. They chatted about the day while they ate, and Spike talked about the teams practice. Once they were finished he offered to give Buffy a tour of the house, to which she readily agreed eager to see the rest of the place. Wine glasses in hand they headed inside.

“Obviously the kitchen,” Spike said with a grin leading her through the kitchen and towards the living room.

“Do you even use it?” Buffy asked teasingly, noticing how immaculately clean it looked.

“Oi! I resent that, Summers. I happen to be a mighty fine cook when I need to be.”

Buffy giggled and ignored his affronted look, passing him by as they entered another room just off of the living area. It was a fairly large room, a large screen tv dominating one wall with a couch and two chairs surrounding it. The side of the room was dominated by a pool table.

“Compliments of Angel,” Spike said motioning towards the pool table. Buffy knew that Spike and Angel were good friends. They had been for years. It made sense to her that Angel would let Spike move into his place when he unexpectedly left right before Spike had come back. But what didn’t make sense was why he had left his stuff behind. He had left unexpectedly right before Spike had come back.

“Really?” she asked. Spike nodded. “Why didn’t he take it with him when he left?”

“Has plans to be back someday.” Spike offered in response but said nothing more. “Just babysitting it for awhile.”

“Oh,” she said softly. “Spike…”

“Hmm?” he asked leading her up the stairs.

“Where is Angel?” She had always wondered where he had gone. They had been somewhat friends before he had left. He had been a good person to talk to, and some days she missed that. It had been odd how quickly he had left, and he hadn’t really said why.

Spike cleared his throat nervously. “Right now he’s in Colorado helping to jump start a hockey program at a new rink.”

“Interesting,” Buffy mused. “When is he coming back then? Is he coming back?”

“Don’t know. Depends on a lot of things. He’s also working on making some contacts for the hockey school that we have. Been talking about taking it national lately. Thought it might be a good idea.”

“That would be awesome!” she said following him into the first room. Back when they both had been at the rink they had co-founded an elite hockey school that did summer camps all over the state of California, and sometimes neighboring states.

“This is the guest bedroom,” he told her successfully ending the conversation about Angel. Buffy followed him around in silence as he gave her a tour of the rest of the house, clearly avoiding the master bedroom. When they finished they returned to the kitchen.

“So let’s talk about this trip of ours.” She suggested placing her now empty wine glass on the counter.

Spike nodded. “Let’s go out on the swing.”

Once they were both seated on the swing that Buffy had failed to notice the first time around, Spike gave it a gentle push.

Buffy sat and played with her hands nervously for a few minutes, while Spike looked around the yard. He wondered what else she wanted to talk about. They pretty much had everything planned as far as he could figure.

“I never thought to ask, but what time is our flight?” Buffy said finally breaking the silence.

“One; but we should probably be there by eleven just in case. Sunnydale Airport may not be that busy but it is summer.” He explained. Buffy had to agree. As much as she hated sitting and waiting in airports, she hated rushing through them even more.

“Should I meet you at the rink in the morning then?”

Spike shook his head no. “Come here. You can leave your car in the garage and we can leave mine at the airport.”
Buffy was silent for a few more minutes. Spike watched her, thinking to himself how adorable she looked chewing on her bottom lip as she thought.

“I don’t know what to tell Willow,” she finally admitted.

“’bout what?” he asked. “Don’t really have to tell her anything ‘til we get back.”

“I can’t just go off and not leave a note, Spike. She’d get worried. And I don’t want Giles to have to deal with a worried Willow. I also can’t leave her a note that says ‘Hey Wills, I left to spend a few days in Vegas with Spike so we can get married’. That might give her a heart attack.”

Spike grinned. He very much doubted that Willow would have a heart attack over that. The way he figured it, she would probably start planning a reception for the two of them.

“Just tell her we went away for the weekend. You don’t have to tell her why.” He suggested, understanding that by her talking about it, Buffy was hoping he would offer an idea.

“That would be good. That way I hopefully won’t have my cell phone exploding all weekend.” Not that it wouldn’t be exploding the minute Willow knew she was back in town. It was going to be interesting when Willow found out about her and Spike. The note would make it obvious that something was going on. She knew that Willow would be excited and happy for her. She would also probably freak when she found out they had gotten married. Dating was one thing; marriage was a completely different ballgame. And Xander…well, Buffy didn’t want to think about telling Xander.

Spike smiled and put a hand on her knee, giving it a quick squeeze. “I made reservations for the hotel and chapel today.”

“You did?” Buffy said her voice higher pitched than normal. She blushed a bit and looked away from him.
“Yeah. We should be able to check in as soon as we get there. We’re due at the chapel at six.”

“Oh, wow. That just makes it so real now…to have an actual time. I…”Buffy couldn’t bring herself to continue the impact of what he had just said hitting her hard. They were getting married. They were really going to go through with it. Everything was scheduled and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it.

“Look, pet, I know things have moved really fast the last couple days.” Spike said, pausing momentarily as Buffy snorted at the idea of fast. Fast didn’t even begin to cover it. “I know things are happening between us for all of the wrong reasons, but…” he paused for a moment wondering if he should continue. “I’m glad we’re doing this. Last night…being able to talk like we did…It meant somethin’ to me.”

“That’s nice to know,” Buffy said, unable to fully take in what he was saying. Then again, what was he saying exactly? “I’d hate to think how this would be if you didn’t want to do this.”

“Love, you know if we could do this any other way, we would, don’t you?” Spike asked. “This truly is the best plan.”

Buffy sighed. “I know.” And to her amazement, she really did. For some reason Spike had her best interests in mind. She was sure that he really would do anything to keep her safe from her stalker.

“Spike?” she asked softly. “Can we talk about this guy for a minute?

“Sure,” he replied placing an arm on the swing behind her and letting his fingers weave through her hair. He knew she would be curious. He just hoped he could give her the answers she needed.

“What is being done to find him? I mean, all Giles told me was that there were a bunch of people working to keep me safe, but I’d really like to know more. I don’t even know who these people are.”

Spike’s hand stilled against her head for a moment then quickly resumed playing with her hair, as he thought about his answer.

“There is a security team looking into the notes that have been coming to the rink.” He said slowly, still planning out how much to tell her. “They haven’t found much. Hope is that what we’re doing will cause him to slip up somehow.”

“So they don’t have any idea who he is?”

“No, there’s nothin’ in his notes that give any bloody clue to that.” He let a bit of his frustration out in his tone of voice. He had been very frustrated at the lack of evidence in the notes.

Buffy thought for a moment. “How did you get involved in all of this?”

Fuck! How could he get out of that without lying to her? Spike thought. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to tell the full truth either.

“Can’t rightly say right now.” He admitted, hoping she wouldn’t read too much into that. “Let’s just say that I wanted to be the one. Didn’t want you to have to marry some bloke off the street.”

“Thank you,” Buffy told him softly. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she found it odd that he wouldn’t tell her more, but right then it didn’t seem to matter.

“Come ‘ere” he said motioning for her to move closer. Buffy did and rested her head on his shoulder. Spike protectively wrapped an arm around her and held her tightly to his side. His voice was soft and low as he spoke. “I know things are happenin’ awful fast between us right now. And I know there’s a lot we need talk about but…” he paused for a moment. “I think we have a chance, Buffy. I don’t want to lose it.”

“Me neither,” Buffy admitted softly, looking up into his shining blue eyes. She reached up and trailed a finger down one of his cheeks. Spike closed his eyes at her touch. Buffy was scared. Looking at Spike she realized how much she really had loved him, probably still loved him. Yet she knew that no matter what he said when it was all said and done he would probably walk away again. Yet, she couldn’t help but wish that for just a little while she could bask in the joy of knowing he wanted her. That he cared enough to go through this crazy plan with her.
Spike was surprised when he felt the soft pressure of Buffy’s lips against his. Her kiss was soft, exploratory and he let her lead for the moment. It was when her tongue slipped out and gently teased his lips that he took control, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her onto his lap. Buffy let her arms slide down his sides and then back up under his shirt as they continued to kiss. She loved the feel of his rock hard abs beneath her fingers as she caressed his chest. Not letting her be the only one to have a little fun, Spike slipped a hand beneath her own shirt and slid it up to cup her lace covered breast. Buffy gasped at his touch, pulling her lips from his, her shocked eyes meeting his darkened and lust filled ones. Ignoring the voice in the back of her head that was telling her they were moving way to fast, she leaned forward and kissed him again.

“Guess we won’t have much of a problem convincin’ people we’re happily married.” Spike said a few minutes later when they pulled apart, heads resting together, both breathing heavily.

“Hopefully.” Buffy blushed and slipped off of Spikes lap. “Should we get the picnic stuff out of the yard?”

She was suddenly shy again, and unsure. She needed to get away for a minute and clear her head. It was all muddled from the feel of Spikes hands and lips.

Spike was intrigued by her sudden change, but said nothing only followed her to where the stuff lay and helped her pick up the supplies and take them inside. Once inside there was an awkward silence as neither knew exactly what to say to the other. Finally Spike couldn’t take it anymore.

“Buffy…”

“I should go,” Buffy said quickly before he could finish, frantically looking around for her purse. She needed to get away and think. So many things were happening. Her life had suddenly been turned topsy-turvy and she was losing control of it fast. Finding her purse she turned back to face Spike. “I have to get up early for one last practice before we leave. Lorne insisted on it this morning, since I’m taking time off the next few days.”
“Okay, I’ll walk you out and get your bag.” Spike knew it was futile to argue with her. She was running from him. He hadn’t wanted to push her, but then she had kissed him he just couldn’t help but respond.

Buffy nodded and quickly went through the house and out to her car. She pulled out the small suitcase and gave it to Spike. He sat it down on the ground next to him and she gasped as he pulled her swiftly into his arms.

“Don’t run from me, Buffy.” He said, hating the pleading tone that he could hear in his voice. “I know things are moving fast, but I think it’s worth it. We could be so good together sweetheart.” The last was spoken low and gruffly, his mouth right next to her ear.

“I’m not running,” Buffy protested weakly. She really wanted to believe that Spike had changed. That he wouldn’t run away from her again, or break her heart. She didn’t want to just be another conquest, and notch in his belt. She wanted him to love her, as much as she loved him.

“Yes, you are.” He responded, pulling back so he could look her in the eye. “I know this is crazy, pet, but can you really tell me you don’t want this? That you don’t want us to give it a real shot?”

“Can you promise that no one will get hurt?” She asked her voice hard. “Can you promise that when all this is over with you won’t walk away again?”

Spike sighed and closed his eyes. He expected Buffy to pull out of his arms, but she didn’t. She just let him hold her as she waited for his answer, watching his face for some sort of reaction. When he opened his eyes again he saw the hurt in hers. Hurt because she knew he couldn’t make that promise.

“I want to, Buffy. I really want to, but I can’t make a promise like that. Sometimes love hurts, pet.” She started to pull away, but he held on tighter pulling her closer so their bodies were touching in nearly every place possible. “But I can promise to try to be the best man for you. I can promise that I won’t walk away unless I have no other choice, or you tell me to.”

Buffy nodded her acceptance, knowing that those were promises he would keep. She took a deep breath and tilted her head back up so she could look at him. “I can’t promise that I won’t pull away at times. You hurt me, Spike.” Spike nodded slowly and let her go, but Buffy didn’t move away. Instead she slipped a hand up to cup his cheek and whispered, “But I promise I’ll try not to.”

“That’s all I can ask, love.” Spike said pressing his lips to her forehead, a spark of hope fluttering through his chest. “Be here by 10:30 tomorrow. I don’t plan on being at the rink in the morning.” he told her as she walked towards her car.

“I’ll be here.”

“Be safe, pet. I don’t like you out alone like this. We’ll have to have a little chat ‘bout that later, yeah?”
Buffy looked back at him ready to argue, but quickly changed her mind when she saw his look of honest concern. She gave him a grim smile and nodded. Before she could get her door open he leaned in and gave her one last quick kiss.

“Text me when you get home, please. Just so I know you’re safe.” He whispered. Buffy nodded and got into her car. Spike stood there and watched as she backed out of his driveway and left. With a sigh he grabbed her bag and headed into the house to do his own packing for their trip.





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